Gordon D'Arcy hoping the 'most important asset in Irish rugby' can lead Ireland to historic All Blacks win

Ryan Nugent

Gordon D'Arcy hoping the 'most important asset in Irish rugby' can lead Ireland to historic All Blacks win

Independent.ie

IRELAND are up against it in their quest to defeat the All-Blacks for the first time ever next month, but they’ve “arguably got the best coach in the world” on their side, according to legendary centre, Gordon D’Arcy.

IRELAND are up against it in their quest to defeat the All-Blacks for the first time ever next month, but they’ve “arguably got the best coach in the world” on their side, according to legendary centre, Gordon D’Arcy.

Share

Gordon D'Arcy hoping the 'most important asset in Irish rugby' can lead Ireland to historic All Blacks win

Independent.ie

IRELAND are up against it in their quest to defeat the All-Blacks for the first time ever next month, but they’ve “arguably got the best coach in the world” on their side, according to legendary centre, Gordon D’Arcy.

Joe Schmidt’s men go into battle with a New Zealand team that are being dubbed the best rugby team of all time twice next month – once in Chicago and then in the Aviva Stadium.

And with Schmidt fresh from signing a new deal that will keep him with the IRFU until after the 2019 World Cup, D’Arcy is convinced Ireland couldn’t have a better coach.

“We’ve arguably the best coach in the world, so outside of the players on the pitch, he’s the most important asset for Irish rugby,” D’Arcy said.

Asked whether it suits Ireland to be underdogs, the former Leinster man said they have no choice, but said they can take heart from some of the matches where Ireland came within a whisker of beating the rugby kingpins.

“We are the underdog, whether we are suited to be being the underdog doesn’t matter, but it’s two different camps, where you’ve got one team talking about legacy and talking about being the greatest team ever and you’ve got another team searching for their first win against the All Blacks,” he said.

“You look for advantages anyhow you can get them. And players that played in that game will say look this can be done, this isn’t impossible,” he added.

Gordon D’Arcy and Luke Fitzgerald were promoting a huge autumn of Irish rugby on Sky Sports which is the only place to watch the ERCC, Guinness Pro12 and Guinness Series all in one place. Upgrade to Sky Sports now for just €25 Sports a month for 6 months by searching ‘Sky Sports Offer’.